N.J. Parole Board teams up with U.S. marshals to bring down violators

It was a sunny morning in Jersey City when the unmarked police cars pulled into the Walgreens parking lot. As shoppers shuttled back and forth, officers clad in bulletproof vests with pistols on their hips clustered together.

Bill Cannon, the ranking U.S. marshal on the scene, passed around copies of a mug shot. The target was Jamal Roach, a fugitive who walked away from a Newark halfway house in July. On this day, he was hanging out at a bodega in his hometown.

Every month in New Jersey about 145 people skip out on parole supervision, failing to show up to meetings or leaving low-security community programs. Some stay clean. Others commit new crimes, from dealing drugs to murder.

In the store parking lot, Cannon gave a quick pep talk to the dozen officers assembled.

"He knows Hudson County is out looking for him," Cannon said. "We gotta get in there fast. He knows he’s wanted."

Everyone split up, climbed into their unmarked cars and drove in separate directions. With one hand on the wheel, Cannon pulled out his phone.

"Cavalry coming. Five minutes. Maybe two minutes."

The Oct. 13 operation to arrest Roach is a snapshot of a new partnership between the state Parole Board and the U.S. marshas, described by officials as the first of its kind in the country. The Parole Board folded almost its entire fugitive unit into the local marshals task force, pooling their resources to round up hundreds of parole absconders.

Failing to show up for a parole meeting is hardly a serious offense. But officials treat it as a warning sign, saying tracking down parole violators helps prevent future crime.

"If you’re out there on the run, you’re not going to get legitimate employment," Parole Board chairman James Plousis said. "You’re going to have to find a way to survive. And in some cases, that’s criminal activity."

As of Friday there were 527 people missing from parole supervision. That’s 3.3 percent of the Parole Board’s 15,904-person caseload, down from 4 percent at the beginning of the year and lower than the 6 percent nationwide average, according to a 2008 Bureau of Justice Statistics report.

It can be tough to keep up. The Parole Board has 12 officers in its fugitive unit, meaning there’s 44 fugitives for each officer. But Plousis said the marshals help even those odds, providing expertise, international reach and extra manpower.

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerBill Cannon, supervisory deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service, (rear left) speaks to members of the team slated to pick up Jamal Roach on parole violations. Members of the U.S. Marshals Service, NJ State Parole Board, Jersey City Police Department, Postal Inspection Service Essex County Sheriff's Office and the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office were all in on the bust.

"The marshals have been going through our entire workload," he said. "Those numbers will drop dramatically."

In the first nine months of this year, 1,313 warrants were issued for parole absconders, while 1,296 arrests were made.

The marshals’ Newark fugitive unit works in a fifth floor office of the downtown post office, behind an unmarked, keypad-locked door. Posters on the wall display information on gang tattoos and firearms tracking.

Since 2002, the marshals have worked increasingly with New Jersey law enforcement through a regional task force. But the August merger between the Parole Board fugitive unit and the local marshals office is the closest relationship yet.

The link between the two agencies is Plousis, a tall, mustachioed former sheriff from South Jersey. Previously the top U.S. marshal for New Jersey, he was appointed Parole Board chairman by Gov. Chris Christie this year. With a mandate to round up more fugitives while keeping costs down, Plousis turned to his former colleagues for help when he took over the Parole Board in August. For the state, it’s a cost-effective way to boost resources — parole officers get overtime and vehicles on the federal tab.

"With the budget situation, you’ve got to think out of the box," Plousis said. "This is one of the ways we’re getting a bigger bang for the dollar."

Next month, authorities will hold the state’s third fugitive safe surrender program, where they expect 2,500 people to turn themselves in, mainly for nonviolent offenses like drug possession, overdue tickets or child support payments.

But sometimes authorities can’t wait for that. At least three people this year were accused of murder after ducking parole or walking away from a halfway home. That includes Rafael Miranda, who was on the loose for five months before he allegedly killed a Florida resident outside a Newark sports bar in April.

Todd Clear, dean of the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, said arresting every absconder won’t put a big dent in the crime rate.

"I’m not saying you shouldn’t go after them," he said. "But making it a public safety argument is a bit of a stretch."

However, he said nabbing people with warrants deters others from similarly skipping out on parole.

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerMike Donahue (left), a member of the Jersey City Warrant Squad, and Carlos Romero (right), an investigator with the NJ State Parole, bring Jamal Roach into custody. Roach was picked up on parole violations by the U.S. Marshals Service, J State Parole Board, Jersey City Police Department, Postal Inspection Service Essex County Sheriff's Office and the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office were all in on the bust.

Plousis said authorities prioritize who to pursue, focusing on those with violent pasts. Since starting as chairman, he has visited halfway homes to send a message: "If you stay in the facilities, we’ll help you. If you leave, we’ll hunt you down."

Jamal Roach didn’t stick around to hear that message — in July he walked out of a privately run halfway house in Newark, a month after being paroled, according to authorities. The 25-year-old’s rap sheet shows nine arrests with charges including drugs, resisting arrest and assault. Most recently he spent two years at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility on drug charges.

Ever since Roach left the halfway house, authorities had been on the lookout for him. Steven DePasquale, an inspector with the U.S. marshals, said officers made the rounds in Jersey City visiting family members. They checked Roach’s credit history, conducted surveillance and inspected records to see who visited him in prison.

The break came the morning of Oct. 13, when one of the marshals’ longtime informants sent a text message that Roach was outside a Jersey City bodega. Shortly afterward, officers from a half-dozen law enforcement agencies were closing in.

Roach, wearing a blue New York Rangers hockey jacket and black sweat pants, didn’t know it, but officers were bearing down on him. It ended quietly. A Jersey City cop walked up to Roach, and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked confused, then deflated. The handcuffs clicked around his wrists.

The whole operation, from text message to arrest, lasted a little more than an hour. Roach is now incarcerated in one of the Parole Board’s regional assessment centers, where officials will decide whether to send him back to prison.

He was one of seven absconders arrested Oct. 13. But authorities only broke even — another seven ducked supervision the same day.